Bernard Williams' solo exhibition "Crossings" is on view across the Elmhurst Art Museum campus, including its parking lot and the Mies van der Rohe house. The show features sculptures, paintings, and installations that reference African American history, such as the "Spirit of Bessie Coleman" works honoring the pioneering aviator, and "Cowboy Dream" with its roosters and cowboy figure. The exhibition's title and layout deliberately avoid linear narratives, instead forcing viewers to navigate a fragmented path that mirrors the complexities of historical memory and racial injustice.
The exhibition matters because it uses site-specific installation and a range of media—from monumental outdoor sculptures to intimate paintings—to confront erased or overlooked histories, particularly those of African Americans. By embedding political content in the architectural context of a Mies van der Rohe house and the museum's grounds, Williams challenges viewers to reconsider how space, objects, and narratives shape our understanding of the past. The show also engages with reparations discourse, as its original proposal was titled "forty acres," referencing the Reconstruction-era policy.